Stoeffler: Author offers fresh look at poverty

Feb. 2, 2014

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Public event

Ruby Payne will make a presentation on her “Framework for Understanding Poverty” from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 12 at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Call Care to Learn at 417-862-7771 for more information.

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The conversation about poverty in our community is going to take center stage this month due in part to a visit by a high-profile expert on the “hidden rules” and mindsets of people from differing economic classes.

Ruby Payne is an author and educator who focuses on training others to work effectively with people from all income levels.

Her book, “A Framework for Understanding Poverty,” is in its fifth edition and has sold more than 1.5 million copies.

I got my copy more than three years ago from Bart Brown, president and CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest, who suggested it would help me as I sought to understand more about the culture of poverty in Springfield and the Ozarks.

It was an eye-opener. It’s an easy read, and I recommend it for anyone interested in public policy on economics, or those providing service to people in poverty.

Her detractors say Payne bases too much on stereotypes and not enough on fundamental research. But to the nonacademic, what she says has “the ring of truth” and resonates with many on the front lines in the war on poverty.

That is what motivated a group of local agencies — led by Care to Learn and the Junior League of Springfield — to invite Payne to Springfield for three days. She will conduct a series of training sessions and offer several talks Feb. 10-12, including a Feb. 12 presentation on her book. (The News-Leader, through a donation from the Gannett Foundation, is among many sponsors for her visit.)

Payne uses several techniques to illustrate differences among classes.

For example, she created a chart that generalizes how people in each class view subjects.

To a person in poverty, money is something to be used or spent, Payne says. To someone in the middle class, money is something to manage. And to the wealthy, money is to be conserved or invested.

To a person in poverty, the key question to be asked about food is simply: “Did you have enough?” For the middle class, the emphasis is more on quality. For the wealthy, Payne says, the key question is “Was it presented well?”

More interestingly, Payne has created a checklist of “survival skills” that would be common among people of different classes.

For someone of wealth, it might be knowing how to serve on the board of a charity, or how to host a party of important people, how to enroll a child in a preferred private school or even the ability to read a menu in another language.

For the middle class, it is knowing which stores carry the clothing brands preferred by the family, or how to get children into Little League or other activities, or understanding how to get the best interest rate for a new-car loan.

For someone in poverty, survival is quite different, Payne says. It’s about knowing what problems to look for in a used car. It’s about knowing which sections of town have the best rummage sales. It’s about knowing how to live without a checking account or how to get and use food stamps.

During the depth of the Great Recession, many people formerly in the middle class had to learn the “hidden rules” of survival in poverty. Some have been able to dig themselves back out of it, but with a new appreciation for what the poor cope with every day.

Payne’s visit will help highlight those lessons.

David Stoeffler is executive editor of the Springfield News-Leader. You may email him at dstoeffler@news-leader.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook by searching DStoefflerNL. Phone: 417-836-1111